Could difficult economic times be an opportunity for market share growth?

It is December and something is just not right. Even the cautious optimists are stunned; inflation is four times the Bank of Ghana’s 10% target ceiling and the atmosphere is heavy with uncertainty.

The CEO, CFO, CMO and all other heavy weights are clear about one thing only—cost control. Some budgets are going to be cut significantly, and guess who is going to take the heaviest cut? The CMO; his marketing budget has been reduced to bare bone.

As easy and obvious as this decision seems for many business leaders, it is not one to be taken without caution. This is why:

Silence over long periods impacts sales negatively.

According to studies by the world’s largest centre for research into marketing, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, whenever target customers need to purchase a product, the brand they remember and love most is the one that comes to mind—not necessarily the most competent one in the category.

In effect, memorable and lovable advertising is the engine that drives your sales and grows your share of the market. As such, controlling cost by switching this engine off could be more expensive than most business leaders envisage. Studies done by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science show that:

• When brands stop advertising for a year or more, sales decline year-on-year following the stop (on average, sales fell 16% after one year, and 25% after two years).
• The rate of sales decline is fastest for brands that are already declining before advertising stops.
• Brand size matters. Small brands typically suffer greater declines than bigger brands.
• Bigger growing brands tend to continue growing after advertising stops for one to two years, while sales trends quickly reverse for small growing brands.

You are best heard while others are silent.

We have already established the fact that for your brand to come to your target customers’ minds first whenever they need a product in your category, your brand must cut through the clutter of competing brands with memorable and lovable advertising.

Here is the catch: if most brands are cutting their marketing budget during these difficult economic times, and therefore creating less clutter, there could not be a time better than now to sow the seeds for grabbing and holding more market share.

Be austere but be sure you are not cutting your marketing budget in a way that makes you miss the opportunity—the opportunity to easily become memorable when there is relatively lower clutter from your competitors.

Remember, the goal is not just to be heard but to be memorable and lovable.

During difficult economic times appearing to be only concerned about getting target customers to dig into their already overstretched pockets and purses to buy your product(s) is very insensitive. This would usually not result in the kind of sales success you were aiming for.

Target customers are reeling from the challenges of the times and are looking for help with how to navigate and get the best value for their money rather than be provoked to buy. Becoming a brand that is sensitive to target customers’ plight goes a long way to build trust and that is a sure way to become memorable and lovable—i.e., turn on the engine that drives sales.

But during difficult economic times, when the CFO is even more determined to let very little out of the treasury, how do you fund the engine that drives sales?

When times are hard, most advertisers cut their advertising budgets and media owners have a hard time meeting their revenue and cash projections. To salvage the situation, media owners are more likely to offer advertisers discounts and payment plans that are not available in normal times. You are more likely to get better deals out of media owners when times are difficult. Take advantage of this and get your media budget to achieve more value for money in these times.

When the going gets tough it is the prudent that gets going. Not being overly obsessed with cutting one’s advertising budget might not look like it, but it might be the prudent thing to do when the going gets tough.